Captive Killer Whales: The Evolution Of Behavioral Adaptation

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Though any Ocra can mate with another, behavioral adaptation create a form of speciation. Within the pod all Orcas speak a distinct dialect. Like humans, Orcas don’t possess just one language. An Orca from one pod would not be able to understand and communicate with an Orca from another, making mating difficult between the two of them. Leigh Dayton, the curator of marine mammals at Vancouver’s Public Aquarium, discovered this phenomenon by “listening to the two main communities of killer whales that were then divided into pods, each with its own dialect” (Orca Social Structure and (Whale) Dialects, 1). Captive Killer whales live in tanks with a “fake family” that they can’t communicate with due to different imprinting and behavioral adaptations.

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